We are committed to providing legal services of the highest standard and part of that commitment involves encouraging you to complain if you feel that we have not met the high standards that we have imposed upon ourselves. Whilst we expect that you will be satisfied with our work, if you feel that you have cause for criticism or complaint in respect of any aspect of the service provided by this firm to include a complaint about our bill, you are entitled to complain and we would invite you to address your complaint initially, in writing, to Mr. M. Patel, (a Director) or by telephone on 01204 535333 for immediate consideration so that any appropriate action can be taken without delay.
On occasions, we may invite you to attend a meeting to explain the outcome of our investigation in more detail, in an effort to ensure that you will receive an adequate summary of the steps taken to resolve any problems.
On receipt of your complaint we shall automatically invoke the firm’s Complaints Procedure which includes writing to you to notify you of how the complaint will be handled and within what timescales you will be given an initial or substantive response and thereafter we shall conduct an internal investigation handled by a senior member of the firm resulting in a full written response to you in compliance with the firm’s Complaints Procedure.
We emphasise that any such complaint or criticism will be regarded as an opportunity to improve our service both to you and to other clients. However, on concluding our investigations into your complaint, if you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman so long as the complaint is made within 6 months of you receiving our final response to your complaint or up to 1 year from the date of the act / omission giving rise to your complaint or 1 year from when you should have known about the complaint.
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman via their website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk or by e-mail to enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or in writing to P. O. Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.
A copy of the firm’s Complaints Procedure is available upon request from our offices and we shall handle any complaint promptly, fairly and effectively in accordance with the firm’s Complaints Procedure.
The above complaints procedure also applies to complaints arising concerning our bill. There may also be a right to object to the bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 and that if all, or part, of a bill remains unpaid, the firm may be entitled to charge interest.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. You can find information about raising your concerns with the SRA at www.sra.org.uk in the ‘For the public’ section.
